MSCI Inc $MSCI Stock: Vontobel Holding Ltd. Lowers Stake

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 122,566 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 160,910 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $66,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,062,626,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth $1,798,710,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,446,291 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $829,781,000 after buying an additional 168,405 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth $480,613,000. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth $301,493,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 1.3%

MSCI stock traded down $7.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $567.85. 883,578 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 545,007. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $644.77. The stock has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $558.93 and its 200 day moving average is $575.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.99 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $870.71 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 55.19% and a net margin of 40.74%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 44.86%.

Key MSCI News

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSCI’s upcoming third-quarter results are expected to benefit from strong demand for indexes, ETF inflows and growth in private-capital products. Analysts at RBC anticipate a modest earnings beat, offering a potential near-term catalyst. MSCI earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI launched a consultation to move Indonesia’s indexes from emerging-market to standalone status, with a final decision expected by June 2027. Although disruptive for Indonesian markets, the process reinforces MSCI’s role as a key global benchmark provider and may increase attention to its index-governance services. MSCI Indonesia reclassification consultation
• Neutral Sentiment: MSCI is also consulting on new index-eligibility rules that could eventually remove Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, from some indexes. Existing constituents reportedly must fail eligibility screens across two consecutive annual filing periods, so the financial impact is not immediate. Strategy index eligibility proposal
• Neutral Sentiment: MSCI froze its Turkey indexes while market-access concerns remain under review. The action demonstrates stricter methodology enforcement but could create uncertainty for index-linked products and affected clients. MSCI Turkey index freeze
• Negative Sentiment: The Indonesia proposal has triggered a sharp sell-off in Indonesian equities and raised concerns about foreign outflows. The resulting criticism and political scrutiny may increase uncertainty around MSCI’s emerging-market franchise, even though the decision is still under consultation. MSCI Indonesia downgrade warning
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its MSCI price target from $700 to $662 while maintaining an Overweight rating. The cut reflects more cautious valuation expectations ahead of earnings, despite continued analyst support. MSCI price target reduction

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $690.00 to $685.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $685.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore set a $722.00 target price on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.17.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $256,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,337,080. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, banks, wealth managers and other financial professionals. The company is best known for its equity, fixed-income and multi-asset-class indexes, which are used as benchmarks and as the basis for investment products such as exchange-traded funds and other index-linked strategies.

In addition to indexes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management and performance-measurement tools designed to help clients evaluate exposures, construct portfolios and manage investment risks.